I believe at TARAWA it was the AMPHIBIOUS TRACTOR, better known as the LVT. Without the LVTs, the first three waves would not have made it over the reef, a beachhead would not have been established and large amounts of supplies, especially ammo, would not have gotten to the Marines on the beach.

The Japanese believed the reef would have stopped all landing boats, and it did. Without the LVTs the first three waves of Marines would have been devastated on the reef, follow-up waves in landing craft were. The momentum of the assault would have completely stopped, which it almost did except for the repeated runs into the beaches by the LVTs and thier crews.

Even though the momentum of the assault came to a crawl, the LVTs continued to bring in Marines and supplies to the beaches. They saved many Marines by taking the wounded out to the waiting landing boats just off the reef.

Out of 73 LVT-1's committed to the battle (2 LVT-1's were never unloaded) 56 of them were destroyed.

There were 50 LVT-2's committed- 34 were destroyed.

That makes 90 LVTs out of the 125 destroyed. Many of these LVTs operated after the initial landings before being destroyed by enemy gunfire, sank in the lagoon, mechanical failure or beach mines.

The fighting spirit of the individual marine won the battle, but it took the LVT to get them close enough to the fight.

To All who participate in this forum: In furthurance of a discussion Ed. Gilbert and I had recently while riding down a Houston freeway, I would like to invite each of you to give consideration to... more

Hi all, good question and one my dad answered to me as a kid, teen and young adult. He was a Lt. in I/3/6 and caught the last couple of days in the epic point blank gunfight, also a close friend of... more

He was in the China Gal, my dad's name is kind of odd, Burb. He and Homer had a battlefield reunion on Tarawa which made the papers of the day as a human interest deal, I've got a couple of pretty... more

I remember your father but did not really know him. I had a number of friends in 1/6; all are now deceased. Did not know of Homer's relationship ith your father. Homer, "Pappy", was a great Marine... more

He was pretty much estranged from his family. A hard price, but part of the bargain I suppose when you are a career Marine. The nurse that he was close to at the hospice said a niece would visit... more

Would love to have any and all you can release on both. E mail to Sipapu5318@yahoo.com. Snail mail to 1321 Park Bayou Dr C219, Houston, Texas 77077-1597. The son contacted me when Pappy was having so ... more

Col Bale, after I thought of it for awhile my gut feeling is that it might be more appropriate given your professional relationship with Homer to contact you personally, although the folks who visit... more

Many good reasons given for the Marine tipping point at Tarawa all valid. I would attribute their success due to their ability to engage in small unit action uncomplicated like the Army losing attack ... more

When we blew them out of their concrete bunkers and ground holes,they were completely disorganized. Never a Banzai attack like in Saipan. I thank the air spotters, our navy gunfire,courageous flame... more

Col Bale, Thanks for starting this discussion. Merry Christmas to all! Tipping point? – the assigning of the Second Marine Division and its attached outfits to carry out the assault on Betio. What... more

Great Question Col Bale, I think that there is no question that without the LVT and your tanks the battle would have ended up like Dieppe. And the fact that the fighting spirit and skills of the US... more

Mark, You may remember me from several postings as a frequent responder to questions and answers regarding the tanks at Tarawa. I was the original person who located the tanks CANNONBALL and CHARLIE... more

In my opinion, the turning point to this entire battle, was the fact that the individual marine, from privates to generals, decided that they were going to do whatever was necessary to win this... more

as a note, there is newly released book by British historian Max Hastings titled "Inferno" about World War 2. He states that the finest fighting force in WW2 was the US Marines. My dad could have... more

1. Marines do not use rear view mirrors. 2. Their vehicle steering wheels cannot turn more than 10 degrees. They are a family that looks to the future by staying close together. As a corpsman they... more

I agree with Dave. As a mere "outside observer," it seems to me that it was the Marine's ability to assess the situation and to improvise on the fly, rather than remain rigid and inflexible that made ... more

Col. Bale....great question. I wasn't there as I was just baarely over a year old future Marine Tanker. As the old saying goes: "the deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle." while... more

also believes this was a factor. He believes the Japanese garrison commander was killed by a fluke shell hit on the first day, and that disrupted communications and lack of local initiative foiled... more

The GALVANIC operation did not use pre-positioned fire support bases on nearby small islands for valid reasons. The Japanese still posed a significant naval threat, and indeed their plan was simply... more

After Pearl Harbor the Navy was always afraid of another ambush. They repeatedly cut short bombardment and rushed the Marines in to take heavy casualties. Tarawa is one place a fire support base... more

to note that the Gilberts had to be taken. US carrier forces were never strong enough to project enough power, nor did they have adequate staying power to achieve uncontested air superiority or... more

I believe that both the Gilberts and the Marshalls could have been bypassed for the Marianas. The Gilberts and Marshalls were not easily supplied. Fighter raids would have destroyed air power in the... more